Various

“ The application of the subscriptions of the Honorary Members to assuring their lives, has these advantages:—It tends to create a large capital fund—It enables the Honorary subscribers to see that the undertaking is successful, before their money is expended—It transforms such subscriptions from being an alms-giving for personal purposes, into an Endowment for the general benefit of Literature—It is not like most alms subscriptions to go in casual relief, but to produce a permanent result ”

“ It is used to signify, beaten so that form and feature are no longer distinguishable; whereas the immediate object of a mummy seems to be the preservation of the form and features of the deceased. Is not the phrase a corruption of beaten to a mammock, to a piece, to a scrap, to a fragment? ”

“ In the spandrels of the cusps are birds with outspread wings, bearing labels. Those on the left appear to be eagles; those on the right have long bills, and may be intended for pelicans. The large right-hand spandrel of the arch contains a figure of the Virgin Mary, crowned as "the Queen of Heaven," clad in long flowing drapery, with her hands upraised, apparently in benediction, and her hair loose and streaming. Near to her is her emblem, the pot of lilies; the pot being much decorated, the lilies five in number. It stands upon a label, whose folds fill up the rest of the spandrel. ”

“ As to the discoverer of a previously unknown planet, your inquirer should be told, that more is necessary than its merely coming within the field of an observer's telescope, even if it attracts his notice. Some years before 1781, the year in which Herschel discovered the planet which should perpetuate his name, Lalande had noted down an observation of a star, of a certain magnitude, in a position where afterwards no such star could be found, but where calculations since made, from the known orbit of that planet, prove that it must then have been. ”

“ The degrees in law and divinity used to confer the same privileges as a chaplaincy with respect to holding pluralities; and they also give those who take them the right of wearing a scarf. This will be an answer to C— J. T. P. (Vol. vii., p. 108.) , unless he has confounded the priest's stole with the chaplain's scarf. The civilian has also a distinguishing gown and hood; but as to the right to a place among the members of the bar, I am unable, though a B.C.L. myself, to give any assistance in the way of information; but the silk gown of a queen's counsel is the same as a civilian's gown. ”

“ That a work consisting of so large a mass of facts and figures should contain some errors, is more than probable; but having tested it by referring to localities with which we are personally acquainted, we are enabled to say that it has stood that test in a manner to make us feel assured that it is a book to be fully relied upon, and one, therefore, which we have no doubt will eventually take its place in every well-appointed library. ”

“ Edward Hyde, first Earl of Clarendon, was twice married. His first wife was the daughter of Sir George Ayliffe, of Foxley, in the county of Wilts. He married her in 1628, when he was only twenty years old, and she died of the small-pox six months afterwards, before any child was born. In 1632 he married Frances, daughter of Sir Thomas and Lady Ailesbury, by whom he had four sons and two daughters. Anne, the eldest daughter, became, as is well known, the wife of the Duke of York, and the mother of Queen Mary and Queen Anne. ”

“ Mary's District for more than ten years, through many and great difficulties, have been greatly blessed to his flock, and command the respect and sympathy of those who have witnessed his persevering exertions, and have seen the fruit of his labours.
The Committee are now engaged in an endeavour to raise funds for the reparation and improvement of the interior of St. Mary's Church; and they trust that many may be found to approve and encourage the design. ”

“ On Siegfried's return, Golo convinced him, by the help of a witch and false witnesses, that his wife was guilty, and that the child to which she had given birth in prison was born eleven months after her husband's departure. Siegfried ordered Golo to bring the criminals to justice. He, fearing exposure, had the cook poisoned in gaol, and commissioned two of his servants to take the countess and her boy into a wood and kill them; but, moved by her tears, they left the intended victims, and deceived their master. Genoveva took shelter in a cavern, and lived upon roots ”

“ The second allegory, with illegible subscription, cannot be anything but the ensign of the so-called Jonge Kamer at Haarlem, de Wÿngaertrancken, with the symbol, Liefde boven al (Love above all) . I presume this on account of the framework of the painting, ornamented on each side with bunches of red grapes (vine-branches) dependent from below. These bunches have been figured in the identical way on a scutcheon of the same Kamer, which is still preserved in the council-hall of Beverwÿk: there also we see, to the right, a female statue representing Faith ”

“ When it has floated a short time, "it does not require so long a time as the acid process." It is, while wet, floated again upon a weak solution of free iodine for about half a minute; it may then be dried, and is ready for the sensitive solution. This last must be acid, and any of the approved formulæ will suit it; but the solution, whatever it is, must be allowed to dry before placing between the white glasses, nor on any account ought it to be touched with blotting-paper. The image is to be brought out with gallic acid and acetic acid, laid over with a brush, and requires no heat. ”

“ The albumen will keep some time in a bottle; but as soon as it begins to get curdy and opalescent, it begins to lose in sensitiveness. The plate, if well prepared, will remain sensitive and in good order for two days at least, and being kept in a dry and cool place is a great assistance to its preservation. The addition of about five drops of saturated solution of bromide of potassium to every ounce of previously-iodized albumen causes great depth and brilliancy in the negative. The same sensitive bath answers over and over again, as with collodion. ”

“ If a lady were the challenged on the occasion, she would with simpering diffidence allow of the superiority indicated by her glass being uppermost, overwhelmed with my uncle's expressions of regard; if a gentleman, each party got over the formality on as near a level as possible, amidst murmurs and protestations of humble service and great esteem. ”

“ Noblemen and Men of Fortune who have manifested a marked predilection for Literature; Authors of Fortune and others sympathising with, and interested in the labours of literary men.
Participating Subscribers, consisting of Professional Authors, and that large mass of writers who produce the current literature of the age in Works of Science, Imagination, Education, and the Periodical and Newspaper Press of the Empire.
The Constitution of the Society is such that the general body of its members hold the directing power. ”

“ The authority is, first, a constant and very ancient tradition to that effect; secondly, a tradition that this same statue belonged to the ancient church of St. Peter's; and, thirdly, the almost unanimous belief in this tradition amongst the antiquaries and archæologists—local and at a distance, deceased and living. ”

“ Singer had published an edition of Shakspeare; but, like some others, it was not before me when I wrote my recent volume, nor when I printed the eight volumes to which that is a supplement. Even the British Museum does not contain all the impressions of the works of our great dramatist; but I resorted, more or less, to twenty or thirty of them in the progress of my undertaking.
Mr. Singer's edition, no doubt, deserves more than the praise he has given to it: on the other hand, I am thoroughly sensible of the imperfectness of my own labours, however anxious I was to avoid mistakes ”

“ This put astronomers upon the search, and led to the discovery, in 1801, of four small planets, all at nearly the requisite distance, but moving in paths inclined to the ecliptic at such large angles as carry them beyond the zodiac, though they necessarily move across it. From hence it was inferred that they were portions of a planet originally harmonising, in size, position, and orbitual path, with the rest of our system, but burst into fragments by an internal explosion, at some time prior to man's recorded observations of the heavenly bodies. ”

“ Let them take their pleasures, young men and maides flourishing in their age, fair and lovely to behold, well attired, and of comely carriage, dauncing a Greek galliarde, and, as their dance required, kept their time, now turning, now tracing, now apart, now altogether, now a curtesie, then a caper, &c., that it was a pleasant sight. ”

“ The men to whom we owe it that we have a House of Commons are sneered at because they did not suffer the debates of the House to be published. The authors of the Toleration Act are treated as bigots, because they did not go the whole length of Catholic Emancipation. ”

“ The rate at which to cause it to rotate must be a matter of experience, but must be such as to keep the surface of albumen even, and neither to let it settle in the centre, nor to leave that and pass completely to the edges; neither must too much of it be allowed to flow off, as then the coating will not be thick enough. The best plan is to fix on the wire support at the corner of the plate, and then pour on the albumen, and then no time need be lost between pouring off and giving the rotary motion. ”

“ The left-hand large spandrel contains the figure of an angel feathered to the elbow and knee, his wings outspread, and a label proceeding from one hand. The arms of the chair are divided into two parts. The first part terminates in a graceful curve, supporting a figure: the second part is continued with a curve, carried on into the wings of a figure kneeling upon one knee: the intervals are filled up with open Gothic work. The four figures on the arms are all angels, whose wings are made to rest upon, or join into, the curved form of the chair-arm. ”

“ By this arrangement a very strong inducement is given to the Working Literary Men to subscribe to this Institute and Society beyond all others: as they will not only have all the benefits and profits arising from their own subscriptions, but participate in the Capital Fund, which, there can be no doubt, will be augmented by Donations, Legacies, and Endowments. ”

“ A knowledge of the Civil Law never comes into requisition. There was a proposal, some short time ago, for a statute requiring an examination in the Institutes, &c., Heineccius, and other treatises on the Civil Law, before proceeding to that degree, but it was never passed. The civilian's fees are rather more than the Artist's. For information on some other minute particulars of difference, I refer J. F. to the Oxford Calendar. ”

“ Lord Viscount Goderich subscribes Two Guineas per year, which is invested in like manner on an Assurance on his life, and will ultimately Endow the Institute with 100l. And thus the Honorary Subscriptions, instead of being spent as soon as received, are made to form a Capital Fund, which will be ultimately available, as the Lives fall in, to the Provident Members and Participating Subscribers. ”

“ A full description of the chair may not be without its interest to the readers of "N. & Q.," since (as far as I am aware) it has never yet received more than a passing notice from the historian; and if it indeed be a relic of Mary Stuart—as there seems good reason to believe—it deserves more attention (in these days of minute detail) than it has hitherto obtained. ”

“ It rests alone on the superior sensitive property the nitrate of silver possesses after being redissolved in ammonia, which every photographer must have experienced. And it has, I believe, in prospect, the dispensing with the crystals of nitrate of silver, and simply at last employing silver leaves, which will save a great expense to the operator. The first solution is, to the proportion of a wine-bottleful of water add three grains of pure tannin, well dissolved in filtered water. ”

“ Among the many purposes to which the art of Lithography is most successfully applied, may be specified,—ARCHÆOLOGICAL DRAWINGS, Architecture, Landscapes, Marine Views, Portraits from Life or Copies, Illuminated MSS., Monumental Brasses, Decorations, Stained Glass Windows, Maps, Plans, Diagrams, and every variety of illustrations requisite for Scientific and Artistic Publications. ”

“ The extracts from our early writers given by Brand and Nares furnish some clue to the origin and character of the game of the whetstone; when the social and convivial combatants sharpened their wits to see who could gain the satirical prize of the silver whetstone by telling the greatest lie. In Lupton's Too Good to be True, p. 80., is the following passage, somewhat illustrative of the game:
"Siuqila. Merry and pleasant lyes we take rather for a sport than a sin. ”